Weekly Insurance Round-up Tuesday, June 7, 2022

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We're back with the next edition of Beshak's Weekly News Round-up - an analysis of all Insurance News & Updates, straight from our research desk! Don't forget to share your feedback with us, and give us a thumbs up if you find this helpful!

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✴️ Insurers can now launch new products without prior approval: IRDAI ✅

✴️ Aditya Birla Insurance launches new ‘Health Add-ons’ 🆕

✴️ SBI General Insurance introduces new health insurance vertical 🛡️

Insurers can now launch new products without prior approval: IRDAI ✅

In what is the new IRDAI chairman's first major reform, the IRDAI has allowed general insurance companies to launch products without getting prior approval from the regulator.
IRDAI stated it has expanded the 'use and file' approach for all health insurance products and almost all general insurance products. The new norms will be effective immediately.
Insurers can now introduce new products in the market and then file them with IRDAI for monitoring or checking the trends. Due to operational reasons, some products below INR 5 Crore sum insured are excluded from the current reform.
According to IRDAI, the insurance sector is expected to take this opportunity to introduce customised and innovative products and increase the options accessible to policyholders in order to suit the market's changing demands, which would contribute to increasing insurance penetration in India.

Source: The Economic Times

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Aditya Birla Insurance launches new ‘Health Add-ons’ 🆕

Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company recently launched ‘Health Add-ons’, a range of 6 unique add-ons that can be added to the existing plans Activ Health, Activ Assure, and Activ Care.
Future Secure, Cancer Hospitalisation Booster, Vaccine Cover, Personal Accident, Reduction In PED Waiting Period, and Tele-OPD Consultation are the six new add-ons launched by the company.
The following are some of the important aspects of these add-ons -
- Future Secure Add-on: This add-on will provide 3 benefits -
  - Non-Medical Expense Waiver - This rider covers the expense of non-medical items while in the hospital due to an illness or injury that occurred within the policy term.
  - No Claim Bonus Protector - Ensures that any 'No Claim Bonus' accumulated at renewals is not affected or reduced provided total claims paid in the preceding policy year of the base policy do not exceed 25% of the base policy's sum covered.
  - Sum Insured Inflation Protection - As an inflation protector, it increases the sum insured of the base policy based on the preceding calendar year's inflation rate.
- Cancer Hospitalisation Booster: With this add-on, the customers will receive a 100% additional sum insured in case of hospitalisation related to ‘Cancer of Specified Severity’. The add-on will also cover pre- and post-hospitalization expenditures on a reimbursement basis up to the sum insured of the base policy.
- Vaccine Cover: This add-on will cover vaccination against any illnesses deemed pandemic or epidemic by the WHO, Central Government, or State Government.
- Personal accident: This add-on provides 100% of the sum insured in case of accidental death or permanent total disability and a portion of the sum insured in case of permanent partial disability - provided the said event happens within 12 months of the accident. This add-on also offers a cumulative bonus of 5% for every claim-free year, up to a maximum of 50% of the sum insured.
- Reduction in PED waiting period: If this add-on cover is selected and approved by the insurer at the inception of the first policy, the applicable pre-existing disease waiting period for claims related to pre-existing diseases will be reduced to the period opted and specified in the policy schedule/product benefit table.
- Tele-OPD consultation: Under this add-on, medically necessary consultations/ e-consultations, and/ or tele consultations will be offered on an out-patient basis by medical practitioners within the network provider's network for an illness, injury, or other condition that occurs within the policy period.
Customers can pick one or more add-on covers by paying an extra premium. They can also pick the same add-ons with multiple base policies. This, however, will be subject to underwriting.

Source: LiveMint

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SBI General Insurance introduces new health insurance vertical 🛡️

SBI General Insurance has developed a new health insurance vertical, through which it aims to provide innovative health products, as well as an in-house claim settlement procedure, among other things, in order to improve customer experience.
The company aims to expand health insurance penetration in Tier 3 and 4 cities across India, at an affordable cost.
SBI General Insurance has tied up with Apollo 24/7 to provide a variety of services, like -
- Audio and video medical consultations from over 9000+ verified Apollo doctors anywhere, at any time.
- Simplifying the medical journey of customers by storing their medical records in a digital vault.
- Online consultations with nutritionists for diet planning and nutrition management and promoting healthy eating habits to prevent and treat illnesses.
All the services will be available on the SBI General Sanjeevani section on SBI General’s mobile app.

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